The Secret
by gonnahaveagreatday
Summary: Stefan learns a secret from his past involving Katherine. Bonenzo, Delena, Klaroline
1. Chapter 1

**If I hadn't had a dream about this I would've never written a story from Stefan's perspective, so enjoy.**

Caroline played with Hope in the Salvatore Mansion, under the watchful eye of Stefan. He watched her grin at her little girl. Caroline had a child with Klaus Mikaelson. The one thing she thought she'd never have, and the worst evil, apart from the one that overtook Damon, had given it to her. Stefan raised his brow and bowed his head. Elena was on the opposite side of the room with her daughter Bonnie, holding her infant son Alaric on her knee. Damon walked over to join them and took Alaric from Elena, playing with his son to stop his crying at being separated from his mother. Stefan eyed his big brother. Of all the people he thought would end up with a family; little kids to play with, neighbors named Frank and Marge who'd wave hello over a white picket fence, and married to Elena, he never imagined it would be Damon. When Damon picked up the infant boy again, he grinned at him and started talking to him. Damon was happy. Stefan felt a pang of jealousy.

"Why so glum, old friend?" Klaus asked, entering the room and coming to Stefan. He scoffed and didn't reply. Klaus's nickname for him only had meaning in the 20's, which was over a hundred years ago. He didn't trust the hybrid any further than he could carry out a plan to end his life. Still, he didn't mind having an ally, still fooled by the notion that he was good.

"Everyone has kids, man. You and Caroline, my brother, Bonnie's got a kid with Enzo. I'm like, the only one without all that, and it sucks."

"Well I've learned from experience how right you are, Stefan. Life without a child becomes empty." Klaus replied, looking over at Caroline. "It was hard for her, Caroline, to adapt to our child's power." He turned back to Stefan with a smile. "But she did."

"Well that's great for you." Stefan replied wryly. He shifted in his seat towards Klaus. "Did you know when the Travelers came to Mystic Falls, they put visions in my and Elena's heads, showing us this perfect life we both wanted?" Klaus looked at him with interest. "We had kids running around the house, we were human. We were happy. I just didn't think that future wouldn't happen. The first time I saw her I could see it happening. Now a lifetime later I'm still this, and Elena's living her happy ending with my brother."

"My heart breaks for you." Caroline called from the other side of the room, poking Hope, making her laugh really hard. Klaus had to hide his own grin, unable to stop chuckling, before looking back at Stefan. He clapped a hand on Stefan's shoulder.

"I think it's time to tell you something, old friend." Klaus said.

"Rebekah had my baby?" Stefan replied. Klaus clapped the back of Stefan's head and then stood up.

"I need to tell you a story. But first we need to go someplace else."

"I would like to get away from the rabble." Stefan agreed.

"Oh I'm sure they'd like to come along, and I won't stop them. But this is important for you." Klaus replied. Stefan begrudgingly stood and eyed Caroline. Caroline looked across to Elena and they all turned to him.

"We'll give you an hour before we come too." Elena said. Damon smirked and Stefan turned around, following Klaus.

They took Klaus's car and ended up at a grocery store, parking around back.

"What're we doing here?" Stefan asked

"You'll see." Klaus replied, staring at the back door. "Come on." He left the car and Stefan followed him across the heat radiating off the black parking lot. Klaus opened the back door for him and they went in. They came down a neon-lighted hallway, and found a curtained booth. No words, no indication as to what was inside. But they walked towards it all the same.

"You know that old story, Stefan. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy. Boy and girl fall in love. But this story's different. The boy's name was Jacob, the girl's Katherine. They broke apart, something happened to the two and they became enemies. He never wanted to see her face again and it broke her heart. They ended up reuniting, and came to this very store. Needed supplies for a road trip, she was an ally he needed in a plan. And a witch had cast a spell in this spot, making a portal, to another world far better than this one. Jacob and Katherine end up falling into the portal, and have only themselves and eachother to depend upon. This strange new world becomes easy to survive in; kingdoms ruled by kind giants, only queens on the thrones. Generosity, kindness, honesty and peace were the norm. It became a paradise for them as they were both human, and they were at peace. No one wished them harm. They didn't have to run. All they had to do was live. Jacob and Katherine become friends getting used to a human life, with no hope of ever returning to their home. So they made one there. Then they became lovers. This is decades into living in this world. They had a life there, friends, happiness. And their friends found a way to get them back to our world, and do so; only they hadn't expected one thing. The lovers had conceived a child, who had grown into a strong woman. When the family came back through the portal, a whole manner of things happened. The boy forgot again that he had fallen in love with the girl. He didn't know the girl at all, in fact. He didn't know what had happened, and never remembered a detail from their life. The girl having suffered heartbreak twice died of her pain after departing from her former love. She abandoned her child. And then their daughter had transformed from a woman into an infant, mere days old. That same witch performed a spell on the infant girl."

Stefan turned to Klaus and stared at him suspiciously. Klaus opened the curtain and looked inside, expecting Stefan to follow suit and he did so.

"What was the spell?" Stefan asked.

"You will have to learn that on your own, old friend." Klaus replied. They stepped into the booth, and found it was a bigger place than what was seen outside. There was a table, draped in the same color fabric as what the curtains were made of, dark red. On the table was a wicker basket.

And in the wicker basket, was a wriggling, crying baby.

Stefan looked hard at the infant and looked at Klaus.

"How is no one hearing this baby cry?" Stefan asked

"This is protected by a spell, Stefan. It sustains the child, gives it all it requires, and keeps it alive, and this age." Klaus replied. Stefan stared at the infant a little longer.

"The two parents, how did they become enemies the first time?" Stefan asked.

"Katherine had compelled Jacob when he was human, and in his young vampire mind, she'd manipulated him. She truly had only taken away his fear." Klaus replied. Stefan felt his heart race.

"What's the child's name?" Stefan asked, looking over the infant.

"Nadia."

It clicked. Stefan touched the wicker basket and the infant stopped crying, staring him in the eyes. He felt a connection to her in an instant. And he knew.

"I'm her father." Stefan stated. Klaus smiled at him.

"Yes you are."

"Katherine's dead?" He asked, beginning to feel a frog in his throat.

"Died of a broken heart. Every creature in the world can do so." Klaus replied. Stefan picked Nadia up from her basket with the blanket over her, and held her head, looking in her eyes.

 _Katherine flashed a grin at him as they went into their new home, Stefan watching after her. She skipped into the kitchen, her long hair flowing out gracefully. God she was beautiful. And the queen of the kingdom they resided in now,_ _had given him the truth. Katherine had never lied to him. He had really been in love with her once, just like Silas had loved Amara, even better than he had loved Elena. He'd made Katherine speechless in his confession of feelings._ 'I touch you, and my whole body ignites. I kiss you and I know that I am falling in love.' _He'd kissed her. And he wanted to do it again. Just like he'd done dozens of times before._

He remembered asking Katherine if she wanted to go back. She'd stared at him a long while and shook her head, knowing that it wouldn't be the same in their home world.

He remembered the feeling of falling for Katherine the first time. And then when he did again, living only with her, all alone.

He remembered her keeping the secret of their child from him. Afraid of what he'd say, until he saw the bump on her stomach. And the look on her face when he was incandescently happy.

They probably weren't the best parents. Katherine's darkness mingled with his own, which made him realize he needed to do what Elena did and accept it. Katherine's good side was only slightly coming back even when they'd been safe for decades. He began to see her innocent and gentle side, before Nadia was even born. And when she was. Screw it, Katherine was an amazing mother.

Stefan felt a tear roll down his face as he looked at the only thing left of Katherine, staring at him in his own arms. His daughter.

"Did the witch want me to come back and get her?" Stefan croaked.

"Now you're getting it."

"Why couldn't she have brought Nadia to me?"

"Nadia was part of a magical ritual; it would break however many magic laws to move her anywhere. The spell required you to want to take her, for you to learn who you were to her on your own, and to free her from the spell. No one else could."

"Blood magic I'm guessing." Stefan replied.

"Probably, yes." Klaus replied. Stefan took a staggering step back, bringing Nadia into his chest.

"Why did my memories just suddenly come back?"

"Don't ask me Stefan, I'm not a witch."

"How long have you known about her?"

"The witch came to us a few months ago. It was before Alaric was born, remember? She told us of your and Katherine's child, and that we would not be able to lift a finger to help."

"Why didn't you do some threatening, kidnap her?"

"We were concerned the child would not live through that ordeal." Klaus replied. Stefan saw it. Klaus's love for his own daughter, for Caroline, had made him follow the rules. He wouldn't endanger the life of a child anymore for any reason. Stefan looked at his daughter and held her to his chest.

"Why did she get transformed into a baby?"

"The time was different here than in the land you and Katherine dwelled. Despite Nadia growing up to twenty, twenty years was twenty minutes for us."

"Will she grow like that here?"

"I don't bloody know, Stefan. I'm not the witch, and she's not here. I would guess that when the spell's effect leaves the child, she'll make up for lost time. But other than that I confess I am at a loss."

"So Hope didn't grow like that? Despite being a vampire she grew up like a human kid would?"

"No she didn't grow that way. But I should warn you. Don't raise your daughter to be a Traveler. From what Caroline told me that was not a fun period for you."

"Well, Mystic Falls isn't exactly a barrel of laughs." Stefan countered. Klaus opened the curtain for him with a smile.

"And yet here you are still. Were you planning on waiting for Elena to decide to make another switch?" Klaus replied.

"Screw you, Klaus. We're over that dramatic period." Stefan said. He left the booth and saw everyone before him cheer. Caroline had Hope on her hip, bouncing up and down and watching her smile. Elena had young Bonnie and Damon held Alaric's hands to keep him standing upright. His brother's little family grinned at him Stefan smiled at them and looked over to see Bonnie walking along behind her son Daniel who was even older than Hope. Enzo smiled at them and nodded to Stefan.

"Finally! We've been waiting to meet this little one for months!" Bonnie said, nearing Nadia.

"Yeah, Klaus told me."

"Did he tell you who was by Katherine's bed side the whole time she was dying, listening to how perfect that world was, and how happy you guys were?" Caroline asked. "He had to keep you from skipping town the whole time because you were so far back in your memory the thought of seeing Elena with Damon made you want to live at the bottom of a Jack Daniel's bottle." Klaus smiled sheepishly to himself.

"Yeah, thank God he grew outta that." Damon replied sarcastically. Elena gave him a look and Alaric made a sound to be picked up. The group just stared at him, waiting for his response to the news they'd all known for a while. Stefan smiled and held Nadia out, Bonnie's hand brushing her arm.

"I'm a dad." He croaked. He looked down at her and saw a toothless smile. Maybe this time around, Nadia will smile bigger than she did in this world.


	2. Last Token

Stefan cradled wailing Nadia, giving her another bottle. The kid was hungry, and she had grown into her months awaiting him, just as Klaus said. Damon walked into the room.

"Does yours have an off-button?" Damon asked

"Did Alaric?" Stefan countered. Damon shrugged.

"We found it a few months ago. Put stickers on his bottle, he stares at them until whatever he's guzzling down's gone. Totally calm after." Stefan wouldn't have learned that, as Elena and Damon moved into Caroline's place for a few months while Klaus was busy keeping him in Mystic Falls. They'd only just moved back.

"I didn't think you were supposed to do that."

"Well if we're not, Elena found a while reel of them to put on the bottle after washing it." Damon replied. Stefan looked impressed.

"Usually when a child starts crying and won't stop, you have to play a video of the mother talking to them or something." Stefan began "Anything we might've had is in a whole other place."

"The land of giants and dwarves singing cumbaya had that kind of technology?" Damon asked skeptically

"I don't remember. That was one thing holding Nadia didn't give me. As soon as I picked her up, I saw how happy Katherine and I were, you know. And I don't think Nadia's ever going to remember her. I just wish I knew there was something to comfort her instead of just hoping." Stefan replied. Damon leaned back in the seat he'd found for himself.

"We need to find that witch." Damon realized. Stefan stared at him. "She is the only one who'd know about that."

"Apart from Caroline." Stefan replied. Damon looked him up and down.

"I'll talk to Caroline. You find the witch." Damon said.

"I never would've thought she would be on better speaking terms with you than with me."

"Well, you did ignore her and took her for granted, as a certain husband of hers warned you not to." Damon reminded him.

"It doesn't matter. I'll find the witch." Stefan replied with a deadpan face. He jutted his chin out to his brother. "Did the witch just appear to you before? Or did she send someone?"

"Lose your touch, brother?" Damon asked, standing up.

"I've gone about a month with five hours sleep. Getting me this witch will get me shut-eye." Stefan replied in monotone. Damon considered him.

"Fine. The witch only ever appeared to us, but you're in luck. She seemed to know when we wanted answers for things, and came very quickly."

Stefan looked at him. "What, was she spying on everyone?" He asked. Damon scoffed.

"I don't know, I was more concerned with finding out how to get Alaric to stop crying, and how to get Bonnie dressed in time for school." Damon replied. Stefan laughed lightly.

"You as a dad. Now I've seen everything." He wowed.

"No, you only think you have. You've never watched Klaus parent Hope or Caroline parent our kids." Damon replied. Stefan shook his head, thinking he must've seen it at some point, the only thing he'd ever seen of his friends now was their kids. But for the life of him he had nothing.

* * *

Damon walked to the threshold of Caroline's place, Klaus passing the doorway in routine. He looked up and smiled.

"Damon, what brings you here?" He asked pleasantly. Damon still wasn't used to Klaus being so nice to him. Even if the guy didn't rip out hearts once a day anymore.

"Come in, Damon!" Caroline called out absentmindedly. Klaus looked back into the kitchen where Caroline was coming out from, drying her hands on a dishtowel. "What's up?" She asked in a huff, Klaus took the towel from her and held her waist in his other hand, pulling her to stand beside him.

"Stefan needs to find out if there was anything he and Katherine had in that other place Nadia could watch or just look out to calm down. The guy's barely gotten sleep since he took his kid in."

"Right, and why didn't he come here himself?" Caroline asked dangerously, Klaus looked at her and rubbed his thumb up and down her side.

"Because he knows you two are still not friends, nor will you be in the very far and distant future. But come on, Care. When you were dealing with Hope, didn't you have some sleepless nights?" Damon asked.

"Plenty. None that I couldn't handle." Caroline replied promptly. Damon looked at Klaus for assistance and Klaus merely stared back at him lazily. He turned his eyes back to Caroline.

"Do it for Katherine then. You think she'd want Nadia to be this miserable when she's not into the terrible twos?" Damon asked. Caroline huffed and considered him. She put her arm around Klaus as well.

"Okay. I'll help." She replied. "I don't know what their relationship was in this world, but I don't want to be the one making it suck again."

* * *

It'd only been three hours since Stefan and Damon decided they needed to track down the witch. Damon had just texted him Caroline was willing to help when Stefan opened the door to an old woman. She was scraggly, bent over, with long matted grey hair and a cloak that seemed to be made of scraps of tattered clothing like an mop. She stared at Stefan expectantly.

"Uh...hi" Stefan greeted

"May I come in?" the woman asked

"Actually I was just about to go out, but, since I was going out to look for you...sure come on in." Stefan replied, shaking his head in a daze. She walked past him with a very noticeable limp, taking in the house as if she'd been there countless times before.

"Where is the child? Who's taking care of her?" The woman asked.

"She's upstairs, Elena laid her down for a nap." Stefan replied with a gesture and froze. "I have questions."

"You look severely sleep deprived young man. Although we both know you're older than you look." The witch replied matter-of-factly. "I'll answer some questions before you nod off." Stefan shook his head.

"I don't think I'll nod off right now, too much stuff on my mind."

"Might I have some tea? Your call came to me so quickly I never slate my thirst." The witch replied.

"Sure." Stefan replied, going to the cabinets. He opened one. It was the plates. Another was cups. He'd been looking for the tea bags.

"Fifth cabinet, dear." The witch said. He looked back at her. Then turned and got out the tea bags.

"Does it matter which one?" He asked.

"Oh I can find the bag from the box, don't worry." The witch replied. She took the box from him and began thumbing through them. "So, what's your first question?" She asked. Stefan stared intently at the box and blinked.

"Oh. Why couldn't you have brought her to me?" He asked.

"As the hybrid had explained to you, I could not violate the rules of magic." The witch replied.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"That's is a question for another time when you have more focus, dear. Next." She replied.

"My focus is just fine, what's your name." He snapped. Her lips pursed and she gripped the box of tea bags tightly. "You're right, you're right. I apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you." He said slowly. The witch let go of the box and put a comforting hand on his shoulder

"What's your next question, dear?" She asked. He bowed his head slightly and thought.

"Why did I forget Katherine and Nadia when we came back?" He asked in a small voice.

"You did not want to remember the truth in this world, dear. You did not want to face your own darkness. Katherine was the key to you doing just that. Your implied hatred for her overtook any real feelings you had in spite of it. Nadia's existence was just part of it." The witch said. "I'll get up to get the tea going. You just keep asking questions." She added. Stefan watched her put water into the cup, and then got a spoon, knowing right where the silverware was.

"Why did you put the spell on her? She'd lost her mother, her mother abandoned her. All she had left was me. Why couldn't you have just told me about her?" Stefan asked.

"It was not any punishment for you or the child." The witch replied. She stirred her coffee, pinkie up, and turned back to Stefan. "When I created the portal that sent you, every element surrounding it became part of the spell. It had to; what I created was a uniquely powerful spell." Stefan gave her a look while trying to keep his eyes open. "Klaus's daughter nor his sister could pull off that spell. But before you worry, I don't plan to use my powers against anyone. The portal used all my strength, and the ancestors disapproved of my actions."

"How did it open again?" Stefan asked wearily

"Klaus's sister agreed to relinquish control of the ancestors power. From what I understand, Klaus was not happy with trying to save you and your love."

"Well, I understand that. I treated Caroline very badly. She deserved better." Stefan replied.

"I wouldn't know that, dear. But I know that since he didn't want to save you, and Caroline agreed with him, he felt extraordinarily guilty when he learned about Nadia."

"It's...not his fault...Klaus...never stopped loving Caroline...Nadia was...happy in our other home and...we...can't go...back" Stefan wheezed out. Then everything went black.

* * *

When Stefan woke up, everything was the same. The witch was calmly stirring her tea, sipping at it every few minutes, and glancing at him. She remained silent.

"Sorry, was I out for a minute or two?" Stefan asked

"No, you were out a few hours." The witch replied. Stefan stared at her. She shrugged. "I helped myself to more tea, I didn't go looking around anywhere else, and I waited for your sleep to catch up with you. Seems you don't need much of it." She noted.

"Couple hundred years, who needs to be asleep half of that time?" He replied. She chuckled and stood up.

"Well then? I imagine you have more questions for me?" She asked, going to the sink to fill her tea again.

"Yeah. Who are you?" He asked in reply, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"I can't tell you my name, dear. It was taken from me. Much like everything else was." The witch replied calmly.

"What? Back up. What happened? How could someone take your name?" Stefan asked. There was a knock at the door. Stefan turned around and sluggishly got off the chair, walking to the door.

The door was already open, Klaus walking in the entrance freely.

"Please, come in." Stefan greeted dryly.

"I heard the witch was here, Caroline wanted to come, Damon agreed to tag along. Seems she still doesn't want to be alone in the same room with you." Klaus said. Stefan stared hard at him.

"Now's not a good time to guilt me, Klaus. The witch and I are talking."

"I don't see why we can't listen in, give our comments and whatnot." Klaus replied, turning back to Caroline who stepped through the threshold, glaring at Stefan and glancing back at Damon following her.

Stefan turned around and the witch stood behind him, holding another steaming mug of tea.

"How many of those are you going to have?" He asked in annoyance. It was getting to be weird.

"This is most of my diet, dear. I would ask that you don't give me attitude, while I am freely cooperating with you." The witch replied. She turned to the others who came through the door. "Please, if you wish to hear the story I was about to tell the young Salvatore here, I'd be happy to oblige." Everyone exchanged wary glances at one another and followed the witch to the living room, taking a seat close to her. The witch sat down at the far end of the right couch, and put her tea on the table.

"Now. I should tell you ahead of time, that I will not be able to use everyone's names, not eloquently. If I have practice in saying them I can. But otherwise I have to resort to other labels."

"Why?" Stefan asked.

"I told you dear, my name was taken from me. And in having it taken, my ability to say others' names was severely diminished. It was a power I can cultivated, you see. I could use peoples' names and use their will for my spells. Not a dignified way of going about it, and it was dangerous and cruel to be sure. But I had been taught magic, and I wanted all the resources I could use."

"Bonnie was like that too." Caroline replied quietly. "Just, wasn't power mad when she was actually Bonnie." She added. The silence that accompanied her reply told what the witch thought of that.

"When I had opened that portal, I was intending to use it myself." The witch said. "I had grown powerful; more powerful that even that of the ancestors' power, and I realized if I crossed to another realm, they would not be able to stop me getting stronger than them and overtaking their rule. Their tries would be broken to me. And I had no family, no one I cared for, none who cared for me so I was a black sheep." She turned to Stefan. "But you and Katherine, fell through the portal before I could go to the other realm." She shrugged. "Just as well. I believe I would've had to start from the ground up on my powers again, and I was much too impatient to do that. Even if that was the key to getting my strength."

"What did the ancestors do to you? Besides taking your name, obviously." Caroline asked.

"They had learned of my plans to rebel against them, and they debated for a long while that I should be put to death. No threats to their rule, no need to remain paranoid about witches like me. But they could not, because the portal I had used was at the root of their power, and it was connected to me. Stefan and Katherine were still in the other realm. They had no ability to open it themselves. They were under Klaus's sisters', power…"

"Yes, Freya took control of the ancestors." Klaus replied with a smug tone. Everyone looked at him except Caroline. "She knew if the ancestors had the chance, they would strike at our family again. She'd been without us for too long, and she refused to part with us again." He turned to Caroline who lifted her eyes to him. "We'd already lost Finn." He added. She nodded.

"Exactly." The witch said, and everyone's attention turned back to her. "But when we got you back through the portal, Freya agreed to relinquish power over them for them to work to do so."

"Hold on." Damon interjected. The witch looked to him. "If the ancestors weren't able to kill you because of the portal, and then when we got Stefan and Katherine back and Nadia came with, why did they not just try to kill Nadia to destroy the connection you had to it? If Nadia was a part of the portal still, and the magic left behind from it."

"Right" Caroline realized "They tried to kill Hope before. She was a threat to Klaus's aunt coming back; Esther was trying to keep her children from being taken. Why didn't they try the same with Nadia?"

"Because the spell that was placed on Nadia to keep her the way she was was a basic root of the natural magic. It was something that had to happen. The ancestors couldn't control it anymore than I would've been able to." The witch replied. "Now that Nadia's spell has been broken, and the portal's magic has worn away, the ancestors will grant me the freedom of dying. Although I'm sure they'll do it by their own hand." She added.

"They took your ability to die as well?" Stefan asked in awe.

"Yes. When they learned they couldn't kill me, they did everything they could to make up for that. Took my name, my power, my ability to die. Although my power had surmounted so much, there was a remnant of my magic left, that keeps my mind from unraveling."


End file.
